1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a heat press apparatus, and more particularly to a universal heat press machine which is capable of imprinting designs or graphics onto a wide variety of objects.
2. Description of Related Arts
Referring to FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B of the drawings, a conventional heat press machine usually comprises a main body 10P, an upper heating plate 20P movably extending from the main body 10P, a lower supporting plate 30P extending from the main body 10P at a position underneath the upper heating plate 20P, and an actuation handle 40P being provided on top of the upper heating plate 20P. A user is allowed to move the actuation handle 40P so as to pivotally move the upper heating plate 20P to bias against the lower supporting plate 30P. A work piece 80P such as a T-shirt may be put on the lower supporting plate 30P. When the upper heating plate 20P is pivotally moved to bias against the lower supporting plate 30P so that the work piece 80P is sandwiched between the upper heating plate 20P and the lower supporting plate 30P, heat is applied to the work piece 80P and graphics or characters may be imprinted on the work piece 80P through the use of a sublimation paper disposed on the work piece 80P.
There exist a major disadvantage in association with the above-mentioned conventional heat press machine. In order to imprint predetermined graphics or characters on the work piece 80P, it must be horizontally supported on the lower supporting plate 30P, and must be fittedly sandwiched between the lower supporting plate 30P and the upper heating plate 20P. As a result, the work piece 80P must not have significant thickness or it cannot be fittedly sandwiched between the upper heating plate 20P and the lower supporting plate 30P. Hence, conventional heat press machines such as the one disclosed above are only capable of imprinting graphics or characters onto a limited categories of products. For example, conventional heat press machines may be used to imprint graphics on T-shirts, pants, or other clothing. For other products such as backpacks which do not have flat or panel-like structure, conventional heat press machines are not suitable. This is due to the fact that when such a product (e.g. a backpack) is put on the lower supporting plate 30P, the upper heating plate 20P is prevented from fittedly biasing against the lower supporting plate 30P, and the work piece 80P cannot be flatly or horizontally supported on the lower supporting plate 30P. When this happens, the imprinting process of the heat press machine will become infeasible, as shown in FIG. 1B of the drawings.